Mail-box.



No. 674,!47. Patnted May 14, IBM.

- a. A. wmr.

MAIL BOX.

(Application filed Mar. 25, 1901.

(No Model.)

UNITED STATES PATENT FFIcE.

GEORGE A. WIRT, OF FUGIT TOWNSHIP, INDIANA.

MAIL-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 674,147, dated May 14, 1901.

Application filed March 25,1901. Serial No- 52,818. (No model.)

To (LZZ whom it may concern.-

Beir. known that I, GEORGE A. WIRT, a citizen of the United States, residing in Fugit township, in the county of Decatur and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Mail-Boxes, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my said invention is to provide a mail-box adapted especially for use on what are known as rural mail-r0utes,which shall be strong, durable, and convenient, not liable to get out of order, and which will thoroughly protect its contents and interior working parts from the weather and outside meddling.

A mail-box embodying my said invention will first be fully described and the novel features thereof then pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, which are made a part hereof and on which similar reference characters indicate similar parts, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a mailbox embodying my said invention; Fig. 2, a longitudinal vertical sectional View of the same; Figs. 3 and 4, transverse Vertical sectional views as seen when looking in the direction indicated by the arrows from the dotted lines 3 3 and 4 4, respectively, in Fig. 2, the cover being shown in its closed position; and Fig. 5, a View similar to Fig. 4, but showing the cover in its open position.

This box when in use is secured to a post or other permanent structure 1 by means of suitable brackets or other appropriate fastenings 2 and 3 in sucha position or location as is convenient for both the postman and-the patron.

The box is composed of a cylindrical mailreceptacle or mail-box proper, a semicylindrical cover therefor mounted on suitable gudgeons or journals, and an outside shell or housinginclosing the whole except that portion of the cover which shuts the opening.

The mail-receptacle or box proper, while it may be constructed of any material or in any manner desired, I prefer to make with two cast-metal heads 4 and 5 and a sheet-metal body 6, these being preferably riveted together. On the under side this receptacle has a suitable extension piece or support 7, by means of which it is carried from the outer shell or housing, to which by means thereof it is firmly attached. I prefer to make this box in form about three-fourths of a cylinder, with the opening upon one side. This opening preferably extends the entire length of the box and forms a means of ready access to its interior for the purpose of inserting and removing the mail-matter. Its bottom, upon which the mail-matter is designed to rest, being' smooth and concave, anything, however small, is in plain view when the box is open and is easily removed, including small coinsor postagestamps. The bottom is intended to have several small perforations 8, especially at or near the ends, through which water, should any enter the box, may run out and be discharged. When in position for use the box itself is stationary, so that whatever is placed therein will remain in the position where it is placed.

The cover is constructed much like the box, and like it is preferably composed of two cast-metal ends 9 and 10 and a sheet-metal central portion or body 12, extending between said ends. Upon the outer surface of this cover I secure suitable ribs or flanges, and these I have shown as formed all in one piece, the same being in the form of a skeleton frame. The lower member 13 of this frame forms the lock-strip for this cover and, as best shown in Fig. 4, fits down against the lower edge of the front of the shell or housing, where a suitable lock may be provided. I have shown a construction wherein a mortise-lock L is employed, suchas is commonly used in postofflce lock-boxes; but obviously a padlock or any other form of lock desired may be used instead,or the lock may be differently located, if desired. The end flanges 14 and 15 extend up and form walls which prevent rain,

snow, or sleet from driving in at the ends of the door-opening, while the upper rib or flange 16 passes up behind a corresponding rib or flange at the upper edge of the dooropening in the outer shell or housing. A transverse member 17 of this skeleton frame is also shown in the drawings; but this is largely for ornament, although it adds something to the strength and stiifness of the door or cover. Said door or cover as a whole is mounted on suitable pivots or gudgeons 18 of the sheet metal.

and 19 from the ends 4 and 5 of the mail-box proper, the axial line of the box and cover being coincidental.

The shell or housing which forms the outer and inclosing portion of my improved box, like the box proper and its cover, is preferably composed of cast-metal ends 20 and 21 and a sheet-metal portion 22 intermediate the ends and substantially incloses the other parts. The body of this housing has an opening in one side similar in size and arrangement to the openingin the side of the mail-box proper, through which when the cover is open the mail-matter is introduced into or withdrawn from the box. At the upper edge of the opening in the outer shell or casing is a ledge or flange constructed, preferably, of a piece of angle-iron 23, as shown, which also forms a suitable stiffening-bar and border for the edge Said ledge or flange extends inwardly and overhangs the outwardlyprojecting ledge or flange 16 on the cover. As is clearly shown by the drawings, the shell or housing is enough larger than the box and its cover so that a suitable space is left between them, and thus in case the outer surface of the cover becomes coated with ice or sleet said cover is still permitted to work freely, which, as will be readily understood, is of considerable importance. The bottom of the shell or housing is preferably flat, as shown, and extends under the cylindrical box, and said box, said housing-bottom, and the horizontal portion of the support 7 are united together at about the middle. The housing-bottom also extends on toward the front and is there bent up and its edge united to the front edge of the box, whereby a double thickness of metal is given at thatpoint, producing a stiffer edge to the box itself.

My improved box has its working parts well inclosed, so that they are not exposed to the weatheror to damage by mischievous persons, is very simple and convenient, and, being wholly constructed of metal, is very strong and durable.

Having thus fully described my said invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination of an outer shell or housing, a fixedly-positioned mail-box secured within said shell or housing, and a cover to said fixedly-positioned box mounted on pivots and adapted to pass within the shell or housing between it and the box, substantially as described.

2. The combination, in a mail-box, of an outer shell or housing having an opening in one side, a cylindrical mail-box secured rigidly within and to the bottom of said shell or housing and having a similar opening, and a cover forming the door for said opening consisting of two segmental ends and a semicylindrical shell extending between said ends, said cover being centrally pivoted to the heads of the cylindrical box within the housing, substantially as shown and described.

3. The combination, in a mail-box, of the box proper in the form of a cylinder having an open side, a shell or housing larger than said box and surrounding the same with a corresponding opening in one side having an inwardly-projecting flange at the upper edge, and a pivoted cover passing between the box and the housing and provided with an outwardly-projecting flange adapted when the cover is closed to'stand alongside the inwardlyprojecting flange on the housing, whereby the weather is excluded, substantially as set forth.

4:. The combination of a mail-box constructed in the form of a cylinder, a shell or housing covering said box and of sufficient size so that there is considerable space between the surfaces thereof, and of the box, said housing being also provided with flanges which extend toward each other at the ends of the ingress-opening and a flange along the upper side of said opening which extends inwardly, a pivoted semicylindrical cover mounted between the box and the housing and provided with flanges extending outwardly and meeting the flanges on the shell or housing, whereby when said cover is closed said flanges are adapted to exclude the weather, substantially as described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal, at Indianapolis, Indiana, this 19th day of March, A, D. 1901.

GEORGE A. WIRT. 

